Pneumatic yarn feed devices are described in the British Pat. No. 1,426,094. Such devices require external yarn cutting devices. Other devices having internal yarn cutting and trapping arrangements are described in the West-German Auslegeschrift No. 1,069,813. Such devices required complicated control arrangements to synchronise successive operations during a yarn change. This problem is particularly troublesome when a large number of such devices is arranged around a knitting machine. The time required for a yarn change is long and may differ depending on the particular yarn selected.
It is the object of the invention to provide a striper capable of changing yarns with widely differing characteristics, which is easily controlled and can be used at a plurality of positions around the knitting machine.
It is another object of the invention to provide a striper which is capable of introducing yarn using a small sector of the needle circle.
The Italian Pat. No. 597,024 describes a device wherein a cutting blade projects across the path of yarn to first cut and then trap the yarn.
The British Patent Application No. 38792/76 describes a pneumatic striper for meeting the object of the invention. The present invention relates to an alternative form of construction which employs some features already in the British Patent Application No. 38792/76.